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A recent article authored by Jonathan Band and Jonathan Gerafi titled ‘Foreign Ownership of Firms in IP-Intensive Industries’ (This was blogged about on IP Finance, for more see here) questions the long-followed assumption that U.S. firms dominate domestic and foreign markets for IP products.
America has almost always advocated for strong IP protection. This is because it is assumed that 1) Americans are global leaders in the production of creative and innovative services and products and 2) the success of many of these products and services are dependent on strong IP norms. The authors, point out that though literature on the validity of the second assumption (of dependency on IP protection) is growing, the first assumption (of America being a global leader in creative products and services) often goes unchallenged. Therefore, they endeavor to challenge this proposition by identifying the ‘nationality’ of leading firms in the copyright and patents sectors thereby showing that most of these leading firms are not U.S-owned. They define a foreign firm as one whose ultimate parent corporation is headquartered outside the United States.
Major findings-
I. Copyright Industry
1. Publishing
A. Publishing – it was found that 4 of the ‘BIG SIX’ publishers were foreign-owned – i.e. Hachette Book Group (HQ – France), Random House (HQ- Germany), Macmillan (HQ- Germany), Penguin (HQ – UK), HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster (HQ- USA). In 2011, 80% of the global revenue generated by the ‘BIG SIX’ was generated by the foreign-owned companies.
B. STM (science, technical and medical)/Professional Publishers- it was found that 4 of the 5 largest STM/Professional Publishers were foreign-owned- i.e. Reed Elsevier (HQ – UK/Netherlands), Thomson Reuters (HQ – Canada), Wolters Kluwer (HQ – Netherlands), Springer(HQ- Germany) and Wiley (USA). In 2011, more than 90% of the revenue of the 5 largest STM/Professional publishers was generated by foreign-owned firms.
C. Only 7 of the world’s 50 largest publishers of all categories are U.S.-owned.
D. Of the top 10 best-selling fiction authors in any language whose work is still in copyright, 5 are foreign—Agatha Christie, Barbara Cartland, Georges Simenon, Enid Blyton, and J.K. Rowling. Also, the books in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, written by British author E.L. James, were 3 of the 5 best-selling books in the United States in 2012.
2. Music
A. 2 of the 3 major record labels are foreign-owned - Sony Music Entertainment (HQ- Japan), Universal Music Group (HQ – France) and Warner Music Group (HQ – USA). These foreign-owned labels have a market share of 59%.
B. 13 of the 20 best-selling recording artists are foreign - including The Beatles (UK), Elton John (UK), Led Zeppelin (UK), Queen (UK), Pink Floyd (UK), Celine Dion (Canada), AC/DC (Australia), The Rolling Stones (UK), The Bee Gees (UK), ABBA (Sweden), U2 (Ireland), Phil Collins (UK), and Genesis (UK).
3. Film
A. U.S. companies own 5 of the 6 major motion picture studios and 3 of the 4 “mini-majors”. However, many of the films produced by these U.S. companies are filmed entirely or in part outside of the United States. Additionally, foreign companies often participate in the making of these films, for example, by providing special effects. And many of the actors and directors are from other English speaking countries.
B. The 2013 Oscar winners in 13 of 24 categories, including Best Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Costume Design, Make Up, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Documentary and Visual Effects, were foreign. In 2012, the Oscar winners in 11 of 24 categories, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Sound Mixing, and Film Editing, were foreign.
4. Entertainment Software
A. Business and personal computing software industries are dominated by U.S.-owned companies. The top 3 of the 5 largest business software firms are headquartered in the U.S., and these 3 U.S. companies generated 83% of the revenue of the five companies
B. By contrast, 3 Japanese companies—Nintendo, Sony, and Sega- have manufactured 92% of all game consoles ever sold. 70% of the most recent generation of game consoles were manufactured by Japanese companies.
II. Patents
A. Since 2008, foreign companies have obtained more U.S. patents each year than U.S. companies. In 2011 alone, foreign companies obtained 7000 more patents than U.S. companies.
B. In 2011 and 2012, 7 of the top 10 companies receiving U.S. patents were foreign. 3. 57% of the global revenue of the fifteen largest pharmaceutical companies was generated by foreign-owned companies.
The authors also note that though the paper does not look at trademark markets, many of the most prominent luxury brands are produced by foreign companies, including Louis Vuitton (France), Hermes (France), Chanel (France), Cartier (France), Gucci (originally Italian, now French-owned), Prada (Italy), Omega (Switzerland), Rolex (Switzerland), TAG Heuer (Switzerland), and Patek Philippe (Switzerland).
The critical point this paper seeks to make is “in such a globalized economy, U.S policymakers should no longer assume without reflection that the beneficiaries of protectionist IP policies are U.S. firms and, by extension, U.S. workers and shareholders.”
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